Back in School?!

Spring is FINALLY here and so is a new semester. Only the thing about this semester is that we weren't planning on BOTH of us being in school. I was told when I first got put on academic suspension (yes, suspension) that I wouldn't be able to return to classes until Fall 2011. So we were shocked when I checked my email on Saturday the 16th, down in Arizona, and read that I was now on academic probation and had to register for Spring 2011 or reapply to BYU-Idaho. Spring 2011 started on Tuesday, the 19th. SURPRISE!!

Don't get me wrong, it was good news to be back in school. But at the same time, we weren't quite ready for me to be back in school. Jopes' schedule was already super booked. Like, school full time, working full time, coaching competitive frisbee, being in charge of the club frisbee team, and being in the bishopric kind of booked. Talk about never getting to see him! And now I was to register for classes too. Oh boy.

So we got back from our lovely little trip on Monday and worked on "how are we going to do this??" We found out that one of Jopes' classes had been cancelled and the students registered for that class had been sifted into the other sections of the class. Well that meant his class conflicted with what work had already scheduled him for. Drop that class, add another. Okay. Now on to finding classes for me to take. Only my online student status is still set as "former student" so I can't get to the registration system. And it's after hours so I can't call anyone. Terrific.

Tuesday, while Jopes was at work and school, I was at home making phone calls. I finally talked to the right person who said it would be a half hour for my status to be changed. After that half hour, I registered for some classes. And then I dropped and added different ones all day if felt like. And then Jopes called and said that work needed to know my schedule ASAP. So I switched things around some more, and called him back at work. I gave him two options, and he chose the second. 4 classes, 3 credits each. 2 of them online, the other two one night a week from 7-10PM. Thank goodness we have Becca and Anna up here, and that they are willing to watch the kids when needed! We had to use Becca both of those first nights, since Jopes had bishopric meeting the first night and work already scheduled the second night.

All that being said, our first week went okay. I really like the teachers of my night classes. And the subject material is fun for me. As for the online classes, the first one seems very do-able. I don't think I'll mind it. The other, I'm not sure if I can do. It's got tons of stuff due twice a week every week, on top of tons of reading and discussion boards, etc.. I will probably be dropping that one and try to fill the slot with a better one. Jopes thinks he's going to like his classes this semester. Except one. He's not thrilled with the teacher's philosophy on grading. But he likes his other teachers and classes.

All in all, we're doing great. Busier than we've ever been in our 3+ years of marriage, but great. Our kids are the cutest, sweetest little ones in the world, and they convince us of that more and more each day. We love them. We love our little family and we feel so very very blessed.

Too Warm Arizona

It's official. I'm a Rexburg girl. A small-town girl. A prefers bundling up to sweating in my elbows girl. A slower speed limit and fewer cars girl. Crazy, huh?

We went to Arizona for a week. It was wonderful, minus the hot weather that no one seemed to notice except us, and my mom having to work the whole time we were there. That was too bad. But! She is bringing Anna up for school this weekend, so we will get to spend some time with her here.

We really had a nice week. We got to see family (including my grandparents), old friends, the Easter Pageant, the Phoenix Zoo, and we got to swim one day! Oh. And, we got to fly there and back. It was so quick and so very wonderful. Everlit wouldn't let anyone hold her but me and Jopes. Joseph however, loved all his aunts and uncles. Especially Uncle Samuel on my side, and Uncle Andrew on the Free side. Any time we went to one house or the other, he'd cry about leaving someone at whichever house we were leaving.

Sunday, my brother Seth, who was in town just between flights snuck in and got Everlit out of our bed to play with her. She, being the only morning person in our little family, thought he was much more fun than sleeping mom and dad, so she actually let him and Stacie hold her all morning! It was great. And also a bummer that we didn't learn the "trick" until the last day we were there. Now we'll know for future reference that if you want to hold and play with Everlit, you've got to get up early with her. That's how you get on her good side.

A lot of our trip is on the video camera because I kinda misplaced our digital camera the day we got there. So, you don't get to see it. Sorry. I really need to learn how to get video from the video camera to the computer, but Jopes is never home to show me when I'm doing this. Oh well. Here are a few pictures from the digital camera after we found it:

My dad loves to rock babies. Everlit protested, but Grandpa won in the end and the two had a nice little nap together.

Joseph and his souvenir from the Phoenix Zoo. Thanks, Grandma Hord!

My brother, Steven, lives in Phoenix now, so Joseph got to play with his cousins Elliott and Patrick while we were there.

Everlit's never had so much sun in her life!

Joseph and his cousins played in the sprinklers. It was awesome! We do miss that part of living in AZ. Cooling off in swimming pools, sprinklers, etc on those hot summer days.

On the airplane headed home!

Gas Tips

I got this in a forward email. I don't know who it is that wrote it, but his tips seem like good ones, so I thought I'd share since every penny counts these days.

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS:

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline... but here in California we are paying up to 3.75 to 4.10 per gallon. My line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon:

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

1.) Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening... your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

2.) When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

3.) One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

4.) And last tip, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

New Survey

I know it's been a while since I posted on Super Moms, but I finally got Amilee's survey up there and it's amazing. She's got great stuff in each of her answers.

So, if you're interested and haven't been over to see it yet, please do!

Here's the link: Moms Being Super

Thanks!